hackSomething
by DarkenedxPhoenix
Summary: Sora is wanted by the Knights. He has to escape from them with his friend Mimiru and a few more people. No pairings but Please R&R! It's better then it sounds! Abandoned ALL OOC!
1. Chapter One

**Authors Note: **Ok I'm the dude who wrote the fanfic murder and the poison book and I also gave up on it. I started this one a long time ago and decided to go ahead and make it a fanfic. So...here it is.

**Disclaimer for the whole book:**

.hackSIGN, and everything else related to .hack, is ©Copywrited to Project Hack. All Rights Reserved. Bandai and everything else related to Bandai (Including .hackSIGN) is ©Copyrighted to Bandai.

**Graphics, all the rules and ideas, the shop weapons, spells, layout, forum names, and everything else on this site are ©2003 to Sharcu and Volvaga and the rest of the ****Admin Team****, all rights reserved.  
**Certain ideas are copy wrote to their submitter. _.HackRPG Skin v2 style sheet and code by Volvaga, images and more code by Sharcu  
_.hack is ©2003 to Bandai, all rights reserved. This RPG is based only on the show (and the games) and we are in no way taking credit for designing .hacksign.

dot HackSomething

Along time ago in a land faraway lived a boy named Venus. Venus was 14 years old, tall and had brown hair that stood straight up and no matter what I did it stood straight up! I lived in the suburbs of the Kingdom of Sonic. I helped farmers and I pull the carts of crops to the castle and back. But, one day I woke up to a loud knock on his door. I got up, walked to the door, and started to open it, but then noticed I wasn't wearing any pants. So, I put some pants on and opened the door. It was the duke! He said, "Please put on your best clothes, the king wants to see you."

The duke opened the door and walked out, so Venus followed. We walked all the way to the castle and then in. Finally, I said something to break the silence, " What did I do?" The duke just ignored him. I thought back. "I don't remember doing anything bad or against the law…"I asked the duke again, "What did I do?" Still no answer. Old dude must be deaf or something…oh well. We finally got to the throne room. I kneeled in front of the king and the king said, "Wake up!" Venus looked at him funny and he said again "WAKE UP!" as I felt a bit of cold water hit my face. Wait… water? Where did that come from? A lot more water hit my face and I sat up real fast. "WHAT!" I looked around and saw I was in my room. It was all just a dream. I looked up and saw my mom with a bucket.

"Why did you splash me with freezing cold water?" My mom said, "Because you need to get up cause today you get your license, and you were snoring." Oh yeah my license! How could I have forgotten? I leaped out of bed and started to get dressed. "I can't wait" I thought. Lance (His real name is Lance, not venus) was 14, and had green eyes, and green hair with two long bangs that hang down but are in front and a bit to the side of both sides of my face. I came running down stairs, told I mom and dad "hi", and sat down and started eating. Then I heard "BOOM!" and saw my older sister and younger brother come down the stairs.

My sister yelled, "GIVE ME MY CLIPPIE!" "Not until you give me my 2."My little brother replied. I watched them fight and finally my dad said, "stop fighting both of you!" they stopped, set down and started to eat also. I finished and got up. "I gotta go!" I told everyone bye and left. I walked about a block then noticed that I had forgotten my backpack. So, I went back to find that everyone had gone to work and school. (I thought, "I'm glad I went to Dot Hack School!" I graduated yesterday!) I found my backpack next to the door and grabbed it, then left, again.

I arrived in front of the police station and looked at the directions. "Hmmm…across the street from the police station. I didn't see any cars coming so I started to cross the street, when a car came flying by! I jumped back on the sidewalk. The person stopped the car and backed up with their window rolled down. I just looked at him and he just started yelling very rude things at me then started to drive off but I was nervous and got annoy so I gave him a piece of my mind. "Number one, you shouldn't come down a neighborhood at 100 mile an hour and number 2, who gave you your drives license a drunkey? Learn how to drive this piece of junk!" he left the guy with his jaw hanging and crossed the street and entered the office.

I saw a desk that said," license approval" so he walked over to it, and asked the lady sitting at it. "Is this where I get my license?" she looked up at me and said, "yes it is, I need you to fill out this forum before you take the test…" she handed me a clipboard. I took it and filled it out. It said, "name: Lance (I filled it out) what you want your players name to be: Sora, Male of Female: Male, Age: 14, weapon: sword, If you chose sword, would you like to be a single blader or a twin-blader: twin-blader, give your characters bio: Sora looks like me, do you want to be good, bad, or neutral: neutral. He then stood up and gave it too the lady at the desk. "Here you go! I finished it!" she just took it looked at it and pointed to a door. "Go in there and take this test, then bring it back to me when you're done." I took it, went into the room, set at the desk, and started to take the test.

I came out with the test and handed it to the lady. "Thank you I'll have it checked right now…" she stuck it in a machine and I watched it scan. It came out and the lady hits a few buttons on the screen. "hmm..it looks like you got them all right! I don't see that very often! Go into that room and you will have your picture taken for your license!" So I walked over there and saw a guy with a little ducky.(I thought, "you've got to be kidding me..") He took my picture and I saw spots for a bit….but then they gave me a card with my picture on it. I took it and went home. But when I got there nobody else was. "O drat.." so I went upstairs and fell on my bed and went back to sleep. And wake up with a start. "I'M FALLING!" and with a thud I hit the ground. "hmmm.. must've rolled off my bed…"I walked down stairs and found my mom making dinner "hey mom! Guess what? I got it!" She turned around and saw it. "o good job! What was your score?" " I got a 100" "YOU DID? Wow that deserves a celebration!" she walked into the other room and told my dad. He walked in and said, "put your shoes on we're going out to eat!" next thing I knew, we were in the car!

"See ya' mom! I'm going to The World!" I walk out the door and down the street a long ways. After a long walk, I reach a building with a sign above it that says "Dot Hack". I walked in a this guy said, "Hiya! I'm Zack!" I looked up at him and said, "Hi I'm Lance but I'm called Sora in the game!" "Nice to meet ya Sora! I bet you're here to play .hack, aren't ya?" I just kinda looked at him and said, "uhh..ya." "okay..I need to see you license please!" so I handed him my license. He looked at it and said, "okay right this way!" he got out from behind the desk and walked over to an orb. "just step right in here…."I walked in and asked, "will this hurt?" "nope!" he pushed a few buttons and closed the door. And all of the sudden my stomach came into my throat. It felt like I dropped 50 feet!

From inside my orb I heard, "Ding-Dong, Welcome to The World of Dot Hack Sign! Please watch out for evil people and have a nice day!" (I knew to watch out for evil people!)Then it turned off and the door opened! So I walked out and looked around. "Hmmm…interesting…"I see a sign that says "Welcome to Mac Anu!" I then see a huge group of people. I walk over to see what their doing. "What's going on?" A girl with short brown hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing a red skirt and a red shirt, and had a big sword on her back. She also had yellow tattoo stripes on her upper arms, cheeks, and on her collarbones. She was wearing a necklace that was tight against her neck and she had another on her upper arm.

She looked at me and said, "They're talking about the newest member. His name is Sora, they say that he can help open this thing called the Key of the Twilights." ,then she added, "You wouldn't happen to know him would you?" "First tell me who you are!", She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Hi I'm Mimiru and you are…" "I'm Sora, nice to meet ya'!" She looked at me and said, "you are? Kewl! Wait…aren't you a PK?" "Uhhh…yeah…"She said kind of harshly, "I don't trust PK!" Then she muttered under her breath, "Where is he…"

"Where is who?"

"I'm waiting for somebody…I'm supposed to meet them in the forest of they don't show up here…and they aren't showing up…"

I looked at her. "Is it okay if I follow you?" She looked at me. "As long as you stay 10 feet behind me!"

"Okay!" We walked into the forest.

We were walking along a path when all of the sudden a saw a bush in front of Mimiru shake. I pulled my swords out and ran up to Mimiru. This, obviously, was a bad idea cause Mimiru thought I was trying to pk her! She pulled her sword out and slashed my arm.

"OUCH! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR! "

"I knew I couldn't trust a pk!"

"WAIT! I'm not attacking I'm trying to tell you something!"

"What?"

"We have company." I pointed to a bush "There's something in that bush…." She looked at it. "I don't see anything…." "Trust me I saw it move…" I slash at the bush and a huge wolf jumps out. "BAD MOVE!"

The wolf jumped out and pined me to the ground. I slashed its face and it got off with a howl. Mimiru slashed it! The wolf howled and I jumped onto a tree branch and cut off a thick vine. Mimiru looked up at me and yelled, "WHAT'RE YOU DOING! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE AND HELP ME!" I hopped down on the back of the wolf with the vine. "You have a death wish don't you, Sora?" I ignored her and tied the vine around its mouth. "Now it can't bite us!" She slashed its paw and with a yelp, it ran into the forest.

She smiled at me and said, "Not bad for your first fight…"

"Thank you…we make a good team!"

"Uhhh…HELLO! Your within ten feet of me!"

I scowled at her and I let her walk 10 feet away then followed. We got to a lake, and she told me to come here. I walked over. "Can you swim?" she asked. "yeah…why?" She pushed me in the lake and I grabbed her arm and brought her in with me. "HEY! What was that for?" She just ignored the comment and poked me with her sword. " I want you to stay 10 feet in front of me now swim!" I scowled at her then starts swimming. After a while we reached the other side and I look down at my watch.

"Oh no! my mom wanted me home by 5:00! I gotta go!"

"Want to meet me here same place tomorrow?"

"Sure" I logged out.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter 2**

**Back Into The World**

After dinner, I go up stairs and flop down on my bed. I try to go to sleep but for some reason I cannot. Therefore, I toss and turn until 6:00AM and then give up. I get dressed and leave my mom a note and leave. After walking down a few blocks I walked in and said, "hi Zack!" He looked up and said, "o hi! You gonna play?" "Yeah..." I handed him my card and went to the orb. I said, "take me to where I logged out!" There was a bright flash of light and then I opened my eyes to find my self next to the lake! I looked around and saw no sign of Mimiru. So I go into the forest and decide to get a bit stronger. I walk into the forest and look for a good fight.

I walk out of the forest three hours later (after having fought 3 elf's, a wear wolf, 2 mutant lions, and an evil jack o' lantern) and saw Mimiru sitting next to the lake. I was hot and sweaty after all those fights but walked up to her anyway. "You stink sora…go take a shower…" I walk to the nearest town and take a shower then come back. "Now are you happy?" "Yes…" It was quiet for a sec then I said, " Have they not showed up yet?" She sighed and said, "Nope…hey look! There's someone!"

I looked up and saw another girl who looked about my age, had shoulder length chestnut brown hair, purple eyes, and an up side down green triangle on her forehead. She looked over at Mimiru and said, "hiya Mimiru!" Mimiru kinda' waved. The girl looked at me and said," Hello…person!" "Hiya! I'm Sora!" I held out my hand. She poked me and said," Hi! I'm Zanzoo, but everyone calls me Zan for short." She looked at my hand for a second and said," why are you holding out your hand? There's nothing in it." I dropped my hand and looked at Mimiru. Something must have been funny cause she just smiled, shook her head, and said, "Come on there's another village just over that mountain!" So we started to climb.

We had already reached the top and were on our way down the other side. I was slashed at twice because I laughed at Zan and Mimiru when they were cold and I wasn't cold because I was wearing long sleeves; it hurt quite a bit. I was given' a pretty deep cut and ended up whimpering while Zan put some peroxide on it. Then she put some other gel like stuff on it that was quite soothing to the cut. I got to put a Blue band-aid on it! We then started climbing again, which was a bit boring and I was scared due to my fear of heights, and it was Mimiru and Zan's turn to laugh because I acted like every step on each step was my last. I was praying the whole way down that I wouldn't fall.

When we got to the ground, I thought I was going to be sick. However, luckily, I wasn't. I looked down thinking I was going to be sick and I found a letter. I picked it up and said, "Hey Mimiru, it's addressed to you!" She walked over and snatched it out of my hands. "Don't even try to read my mail. Wow, looks like Virus finally learned how to use the PM!" She opened the envelope and read it. "Hmmm…looks like He won't be here for a little while longer, it seems he's been held up by a group of pk's…but that's weird most pk's don't travel in groups out of fear that a stronger one in their group will pk them." Zan looked at me and said, " I think He sent them!" She pointed at me, her finger an inch from my nose. "I didn't send them, I don't even know any other pk's!"

Mimiru eyed me suspiciously then, (I think) convinced that I didn't do it, said, "He said He'll meet us at the lake in the desert. It's about a mile from here." We started walking east and ended up in a giant "sand box" as Zan called it. We walked across the desert taking a break at about three oases; we reached a lake that I, at first, mistook as another oasis. At least I did until Mimiru pointed out that the entire oasis had a few palm trees around them and that the lake didn't. I hopped in and cooled off, and when I climbed out, my clothes dried almost instantly. Then Zan giggled and said, "You better go ahead and get back in unless you want to fight the boss of the desert!"

I looked at her and said, " Why don't we want to fight him?" Mimiru said, "Because he would bite your head off," Zan almost fell over laughing and I pushed her in. Mimiru just continued as if nothing happened, "It really strong, even some parties with some elite fighters in them, have problems with it." She laughed as Zan pretended to drown and I watched her then looked to the side of the lake and saw a looming shadow, and decided not to even try to talk them into going that way.

I saved and just as the screen said, "Your game has been saved!" I fell something pull my pants leg and next thing I knew, I was going head first into the water. Zan almost did drown that time because she was laughing so hard. I then figured out how I got into the water. Mimiru did a cannon ball and got us both. We splashed her, she splashed us, and then we all splashed each other until our arms hurt. I looked up and saw somebody standing on the edge of the lake grinning at us


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter 3**

**The New Guy**

Zan and Mimiru said at the same time, "Hello! Virus" I looked and Virus and said, "Hello! Having fun?" then laughed a bit and jumped in with us. He had light blue, slicked back hair that was kinda sticking up. He had on a lot of armor and a sword on his back like Mimiru. He said, "Hello Mimiru hello zan." "Hi Virus, I'm sora!" "Nice to meet ya' sora!" We walked into town grabbed a bite to eat. I said, " I need to go buy some stuff at the market." Mimiru said, " I'm going to the inn to sleep!"

Zan and I went to the Market and Mimiru and Virus headed for the inn. I bought some Potion and Zan bought some new armor. We left the market and met Mimiru and Virus at the Inn. After a drink of root beer, (for me) I went to see what the Town Message Board. I saw a thing that something about hackers getting in. That didn't bother me I knew there were Hackers in here somewhere. It's the other post that scared me.

_Players Beware: 15 new PK's have been found in the world. We have caught 13 but there are still two left. The two left are dangerous. Beware of them and keep your eyes open for them. If you have any info on them contact us immediately._

_The Silver Knights_

Under that was a mini-picture a player that looked like he was strong and another one made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was a picture of me and there was a 5,000G bounty to however caught me alive. The Silver Knights were after me. After that had sunk in, I turned around to walk off and I saw a tall person with lots of silver armor on and (even worse) a badge that said, "Silver Knight." I walked the other way hoping he didn't see me. I went into the Inn and sat down next to Virus.

They must have noticed that I looked a bit flustered and I think I was a bit pale cause Mimiru said," What's wrong with you? You're really pale and creepy looking." I told them about the notice and then added," What'll happen if I'm caught?" Mimiru said," Well they have a jail and you'll be tossed in there for a bit! I noticed that Virus turned a little pale but not as much as I must have been. Then Virus turned even paler. I turned to see what he was looking and I felt the color flush from my face.

There were Silver Knights at the door of the Inn. That guy must've ratted on me! I was mad but then I felt a hard push on my head, as the world became a pale bluish from the back of the table cloth hanging over the sides of the table and touching the floor. I looked up fast enough to see that the hand belonged to Virus. He said," Stay down and stay as quiet as possible." I saw the knight's feet go around the place and then one whispered something. It was quiet in the Inn ever since the knights walked in. It was kind of eerie.

Then something worse happened. The knights started looking under the tables. I sat there and I knew I was going to be caught when a pair of feet came towards our table. The knight kneeled down and was about to pull the tablecloth up when my brain took over my body. It made me do the first thing that came to my mind, RUN! I leg-sweeped knocking him over and ran out of the Inn. I started to run right, but I was even more knights so I started to run the other way. I saw a lot of silver; I didn't know what to do as the truth sunk in. They had me trapped!

Mimiru and Zan looked out the windows of the Inn. I guess they didn't want to get caught up in this. I couldn't blame them! I noticed that Virus wasn't there, but it didn't really matter at the moment, the only thing that mattered then was getting out of here. I looked around and saw that there was no way out. So I pulled out my swords and started slashing. However, the problem was, they had swords also. We started fighting and I was nicked here and there but I think I hit them more then they hit me. I took out a lot but they just kept coming! Just then I felt a sharp jerk on my wrist and the world became upside-down! I started fighting the holder thinking they were a knight.

Then Zan said, "Hey! Cut it out you just hit my head! Ow! YOUR PAYING FOR THAT ONE SORA!" I stopped fighting as I noticed that I was being "kidnapped" by my friends. I tried to hop out of their hands but all three of them had a strong grip on me. I looked up to see where they were taking me and I saw a big upright ring like thing with a blue tent in the middle of it. I felt myself being thrown and all of the sudden I was going through the ring.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter 4

**Running from the Silver Knights**

I expected to hit the ground but instead I was standing in a field of mushrooms about 10 times taller then me. Then I saw Mimiru, Zan, and Virus standing behind me. It must have been a warp gate or something that I was thrown through. I sighed as I felt the color return to my face, "Thanks for helping me back there." They all said at the same time, "Your welcome, but now you own me one!" We all laughed and then started looking around. Zan pulled out a scythe and slashes at a smaller one and ran as it fell over.

I laughed until my stomach hurt. She tried to hurt me but I ducked for cover behind Mimiru. She stopped and stared poking mushrooms. I walked around a bit more and then Mimiru said," I think we should quest through here a bit. It's supposed to have some strong monsters in it! I wouldn't mind getting a bit stronger." I said," find by me, as long as I don't get any more visits from the Silver Knights." They laughed and started walking north (judging by Virus' compass) I stopped walking as I saw something on a mushroom that really made me mad. It was another wanted poster of me. I pulled out my swords. Zan came running over and said, "Quit lagging behind!" I didn't say anything I just started slashing the sign.

I guess I over slashed because it started to tilt. I ran then noticed Zan wasn't behind me. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the mushroom. After it fell she frowned at me and said, "Why did you do that? I wanted to see the mushroom fall!" I just kinda stood there. I had expected a thank you or something not a mad voice. "Because that was about to fall on you." She just frowned at me and ran to catch up with the other two. I just followed not really knowing where we were headed. We kept walking until Virus and Mimiru both stopped. I almost ran into them, I was about to ask why they stopped, but I figured out why before I even had to ask. There was a Silver Knight right in front of us. I ducked behind a mushroom and watched with my swords out. They pretended to be looking for something. I stood there as quiet as possible. The knight must've noticed them cause he walked over to them and said, " I'd be careful in this field, one of the pk's came through here not too long ago. His name is Sora, here"(he handed them all a wanted poster of me) "tell me if you see him!"

He walked off, and I walk out from behind the tree. I took all the wanted posters and said, "You've seen me, you know what I look like so you don't really need these do you?" They laughed as I burned them. That knight must've thought that was a scream because he came running back and saw me. Me and everything else froze or that's what it felt like. He pulled out a sword and said, " Hello Sora! So you've already started pk'ing. That's weird most newbies wait at least a week before they start pk'ing. Anyway, my name is Dark. Also I'm going to get a lot of money for catching you, your worth about 5,000G. You're going to make me rich"

I said, "Are you done running your mouth cause you're starting to bore me. Also, you won't get that money cause you aren't going to catch me so stop wasting your time." He looked a bit surprised, but shook it off pretty fast. "Your pretty cocky for a newbie." I clenched my fist and my swords came out of their sheath. (my swords aren't like samurai swords. They're actually kind of short but the sheath is on my wrist. I fights like I'm fighting with my fist because they stay in their sheath and their out at the same time. You'll see a picture of them in the next chapter) "So you are going to fight, prepare to lose." I ignored him and slashed his head. I nicked his hair but he dodged out of the way and slashes my wrist. I started slashing continually hitting him every now and then. He was really fast, but I didn't care. I knew I would get him in a minute.

He must have gotten sick of me slashing because he slammed me with the hilt of his sword. Things went blurry for a minute then came back into focus. He must have been behind me because there were handcuffs rattling behind me. I spun around and slammed his head with my heel. He grunted and dropped his handcuffs. I kicked them and they landed next to Virus' feet. He picked them up and put them in his pocket. I started slashing him.

I must've stunned him because he didn't even try to dodge I hit him with every slash. Dark fell over. He was out cold, so I took some rope and tied him to a tree. Then I said, "Well that was fun, but he hurt my wrist. Oh well! You think someone will find Him?" Virus looked at him and said, "Well somebody will find him probably." I put my swords up and followed Mimiru and Virus. We looked around a bit and eventually found another town. I saved and said, "Well, it's late and I'm worn out. I'll see you tomorrow." We said bye and I logged out.

I felt a bit sad as I walked home that night. I didn't know what to do to get away from the knights. I was in deep thought when I looked up to see where I was, and I almost ran into a person in front of me. I accidentally kicked the person's shoe. The person turned around, and looked at me and then raised her eye row at me. "Oh! I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She continued to look at me almost as if she knew me. I just kept walking, and almost ran into a parked car before I finally reached home.

I walked in the kitchen and my mom said, "Welcome home! How was your day today?" I shrugged and said, " Fun, but kinda' tiring" She didn't know I was a pk and I didn't plan on telling her unless I had too. She said, "Go wash your hands it's time for dinner." I went and washed my hands and sat down and started eating. After dinner, I went straight to bed. Running from the knights had worn me out. I fell on my bed and I fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up the next morning and went down stairs to see if anyone was awake. I thought, "What time is it? Oh! It's 5:00! No wonder anyone's awake!" I put my clothes on and went to see Zack. On my way, I saw the same girl I ran into the other day but I didn't think anything about it. I walked in told Zack hi and warped into the world. I looked around and found I was in the Omega Server. I also noticed that there was snow, but then remembered that it was Christmas!


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter 5

**The Haunted Mansion**

I was a lot happier and forgot all about the Silver Knights. I looked around and found a shop for Christmas shopping. I bought Mimiru a sword sharpener, Virus a new sheath for his sword, and Zan 25G. Then I went to check out the town message board. It didn't say anything I didn't already know so I walked off, trying to find one of them. I searched for about an hour before I found one of them.

I found Virus. I said, " Merry Christmas Virus!" I think I surprised him because he jumped a bit then turned around. "Hello Sora! Merry Christmas to you too." I handed him the present I bought for him. "Thanks Sora!" He put his sword in his new sheath and handed me something. I opened it to find a maintenance kit for my swords. "Wow thanks Virus." We set off to find Mimiru and Zan. We found them both at a Warp Gate. We exchanged gifts.

Mimiru said, " I hear there's server that's supposed to be really creepy! Want to go check it out?" We stepped in the gate, and I found myself in front of an old, run-down building. It didn't look too scary on the out side, but I changed my mind on that when I saw the inside. It had very little light and it had a damp smell to it. I looked to see what the others were doing. Mimiru was hanging a bit closer to Virus then usual and Zan just looked around. I could've sworn I saw a pair of red eyes looking at me out of my eye, but when I looked there was nothing there. I just ignored it, and said, " Okay! This is creepy!"

Nobody said anything. We just started walking, I kept and eye out for those red eyes, but I didn't see them…so far. We started to climb some old, creaky stairs. A couple of boards broke after I stepped off them. I heard something move so I pulled out my swords. The other Virus and Zan jumped, but Mimiru screamed and I screamed then all three of us screamed. It was a funny scene and I would've laughed if it weren't so scary. We all caught our breath then Mimiru hit me.

"WHY DID YOU PULL OUT YOUR SWORDS! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!" I rubbed my cheek where she slapped me and said, " Because I heard something move, and calm down it's not like there's a ghost or some- what?" They turned pale and pointed behind me. I said, " Oh, I'm not falling for that trick. What do you think I am? Stupid?" Virus said, " Sora there's a ghost right behind you." I turned around and looked. There was a semi-transparent bed sheet with eyeholes in it, but it was floating. Zan walked over to it and I ran to join Mimiru and Virus. She pulled out her scythe and poked it.

"Go away I'm the grim reaper!" The ghost disappeared. She said, " Oh I just love to do that! By the way, I'm not the grim reaper, I just did that to see if it worked!" We laughed a little then continued to look around. I saw those red eyes again and started slashing them. Then, I noticed that it was just a painting. I walked off hoping no one noticed. We walked into a room and the door shut itself. We were all shaking now and trying to see, but it was hard considering it was pitch black in there. Then out of nowhere came a little light. I looked to see where it was coming from and I found Virus holding a candle. I looked around the room.

It was windowless and there was only one door. I found a lever on the wall. "Hey look! I found a lever!" I had my hand on it when Zan said, " Don't pull it you moron! It could blow us up or something!" Mimiru said, " If you blow us up I'll kill you!" I pretended to pull it down. Mimiru punched my nose and then a turn for the worst. I pulled the lever in attempted to rub my nose. We all froze as what seemed like hours passed. (It was really about 2 seconds) Then there was no more floor. We fell and screamed, Mimiru screamed the loudest and I think she almost broke my left eardrum. We hit what felt like a mattress and when I looked down, that's what it was.

We were in a bedroom…full of skeletons. Virus and I stomped a few skeletons to make Zan stop screaming. It was funny, and after we got out of the mansion. (Oops got a bit ahead of my story! You didn't read that, you didn't read that…) Anyway, we walked out of the bedroom (Mimiru hanging closer to Virus with every step) we heard a few footsteps behind us. We stopped and pulled our weapons out; ready for battle when we saw it was a live person! He said, "Hello! My name is Sharcu! Nice to meet you!" Sharcu had blonde hair, and wore all white clothes. He wore a white cloak over his clothes. My eyes hurt a little when I saw him, due to the light colors.

I said, " Hello, I'm Sora." We shook hands and everyone else introduced themselves. Sharcu said, " Looking for a way out?" Virus said, " Yes, do you know how to get out?" He frowned and said in a sing-song voice, " You're not gonna' like it." I frowned also and said, "Just tell us. We're ready to leave this creepy place." He smiled and said, " In order to get out you have to beat the ghost…it's not gonna be a walk in the park… and it's really creepy!" He laughed and I had had enough. I tried to punch him, but he caught my fist in his hand.

"Now, now, Sora, we don't want any of that." He squeezed my fist and I jerked my hand back. "Ouch…that hurt…but just tell us how to which way to go to get out." He said, "Follow me, I'll show you to the ghost…but you have to beat him." He started walking, I fell behind a bit and let Mimiru go behind Sharcu. We walked down a few corridors and around a few corners. We reached a large door and walked in. He said, "Here's the room… good luck…" He walked out and the door closed behind him. I looked around and said, " We need some light…" Something must've heard me, because suddenly torches on the wall lit up. "Wow! The walls have ears!" I looked around the room and froze. Floating in front of us was the same ghost that was behind me earlier. We all made a dash for the door, but before any of us could reach it, big, thick, metal bars fell from the doorframe and blocked the door. I turned around and pulled out my swords, " I guess we have to defeat it!"

Everyone else pulled out their weapon and started slashing. None of our hit hurt it at all. I stopped to catch my breath and noticed that Zan was missing. Mimiru and Virus stopped to catch their breath also. Then I heard the revving of an engine. I turned around and jumped out of the way just in time. I saw the blur of Zan on a motorcycle, and heard her laughing manically. She ran over the ghost, with a loud squish and we laughed as it stuck, flat to the floor. The door opened and we walked out. We all laughed about the whole mansion adventure when we were out of the mansion and relieved that we were out. I asked, "Hey Zan where did you get that motorcycle?" She grinned and said, " I'll never tell!"

I said, "Okay! Where to next?" About the time I said that, a guy with spiked black hair, (what's with the spiked hair?) a blue undershirt and an orange tank top, blue boots, and orange pants. "Hello, I'm Noganie." He held out his hand. Zan was closest so she shook his hand and said, "Hi! I'm Zan, this is Sora, Mimiru, and Virus!" He then said, "Can I join your group for a bit?" Zan looked at us and said, " Can he?" I looked at Mimiru and Virus. "Fine by me, what do you two think?" They nodded their head. He said, "I heard there's a newly discovered field! Want to go check it out?" We looked around a bit nervously.

I said, "Sure!" Mimiru punched me in the nose again. Then said, "HUDDLE!" We all walked over and she whispered, "We don't know this guy! How do we know we can trust him?" I said, "I'll ask!"

"No!"

"Why can't I ask?"

"Because he could lie!"

"I think we can trust him plus we out number him four to one!" She scowled at me and said, "Fine…but if we can't trust him I'm gonna hurt you!" We followed him through a warp gate and ended up in the last place I wanted to be.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter 6

**The Graveyard**

A graveyard. I looked around at all the tombstones. "Where the heck are we?" I said, unable to hide the shake in my voice. Noganie said, "We're in the graveyard!" I heard footsteps and said, "What's that?" I hid behind Virus as the figure walked up. Then I notice she was human and not a zombie. So I stepped out from behind him and said, "Who are you?" She said, "My name's Rena, yours?" She had on black clothes, and a bit of silver armor. She had a katana (Japanese sword) in its sheath at her side, and looked like someone you shouldn't annoy. I said, "I'm Sora nice to meet you." We introduced ourselves and she said she had somewhere to go and walked off. We started walking also.

For some reason I felt like I was being watched. However, every time I looked around, I saw nothing. I still kept an eye and an ear open for something. I had a bad feeling all of the sudden. I asked, "How far into the graveyard are we?" Noganie said, "We're in the heart of the grave yard." I pulled out my swords out, just in case. I hear a galloping and see a warp point. "HEY LOOK! IT'S A WARP GATE!" We all ran toward it and entered to find ourselves in the graveyard! We looked back and saw Noganie walking through slowly. "Idiots that was a fake… the real one isn't for miles"

We kept walking when all of the sudden, Noganie pulled out a Long Arm! He said, "Time to kill!" I pulled out my weapon and everyone else did the same. He laughed and said, "You plan on fighting me? How stupid! You know I'm stronger! It s not smart to fight a mercenary!" We all slashed and he pulled out a shield and blocked every hit! Then, Noganie took a slash and sent us flying. We landed with a thud, the world was a bit fuzzy for me…but Zan and Virus stood up. Noganie slashed and sent them flying again. He advanced for me and the kill when a miracle happened; Rena showed up! She got him from behind and he didn't like it!

Then a guy I don't know showed up and slashed him from behind again. He looked defeated, but then stood up. I got up and so did Zan, Virus, and Mimiru. We all slashed at him and he took every hit! Somehow, he kept getting up! Rena finally yelled, "DO IT KAI!" The person I didn't know must've been Kai be cause he held his staff out and it started to glow! Little white wave like things protruded from the bottom tip of his staff. I guessed right about then that he was a wave master. His eyebrows were furrowed while he was doing this so I guessed he was in deep concentration. Then he turned the bottom tip skyward and said, "LIGHTING!" Then a huge bolt of lighting shot out of the clouds and hit Noganie. The light shone around him for a few seconds giving him an eerie glow. It was a bit creepy, then he fell face first into the ground. He staggered to his feet and then said, "I'll face you again some day and when I do you won't win, I swear to that." He then logged out leaving 30G behind. I scooped it up and gave Zan, Mimiru, Virus, Rena, Kai 5G, each and myself.

I looked at Kai and saw that he had silvery hair that was spiked, his staff in hand, and had on thick gloves with a weird symbol on the back of them. We looked around a bit more and then Zan walked up to Kai with a golf club behind her back and said, "Hello! I'm Zan! This is", she pointed to each of us in turn, "Mimiru, Virus, and Sora", she whispered but we could still hear her, "Sora's a PK! Beware!" He said, "Hello Mimiru, Virus, and Sora…so Sora, you're a pk? I'll bet your weak, that's what I hear anyway." I scowled and said, "So what if I am? It's really none of your business. So why don't you keep your nose in your own business?"

He frowned and said, "It is my business because I'm a pk also; I have every right to put my _nose_ in your business because there's not enough room for more then one pk in a party." I laughed and said, "I don't really care all too much because I'm not leaving, I can't leave because the knights would jump on me before you could say, "Watch out!" He looked at me for a second and said, "I'll get you later, why not join the tournament? It starts in about a month. If you don't, I'll come and pk you so fast…you get the point… see ya in the tournament!" He laughed evilly and warped out.

I looked back and said, "Okay…what was that all about?" Zan almost fell over out of shock. "DID A WORD OF WHAT HE SAID PENETRATE THICK SKULL OF YOURS!" I shook my head. She sighed and said, "Someone else tell him…no wait…I want to yell at him some more!" She turned on me and yelled, "HE BASICALLY JUST SAID HE'S GOING TO PK YOU IF YOU DON'T ENTER THAT TOURNAMENT AND IF YOU DO HE'S GOING TO PK YOU ANYWAY! SO IF I WERE YOU I'D START TRAINING NOW!" She took another breath and went on, "How about this? I'll be your coach, and you get to live!" I thought about it for a second and said, "Deal" I held out my hand. She shook it and said, "Deal! YAY! I get to boss you around!" Everyone laughed except for me, I just muttered, "I think I'm going to die trying to get through her training session." I think she heard me because she said, "That's NOT funny"


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter 7**

**Training**

She said over everybody's laughing, "Your going to pay for that comment!" She beaned me over the head with her golf club. "OUCH! You almost knocked my out with that stupid thing!" She smirked and said, "Unless you want to get hit again you'd better start running!" I said, "Where to and how long?" She hit me again and laughed as I fell over. "Run until you see the warp gate stupid." I staggered up and ran. I kept running while everyone followed but they got to walk. Then Zan came running up next to me and said, "I know you can run faster then that now MOVE!" I ran as fast as I could. I stopped at the warp gate and called back, " I found it! I found the warp gate!"

Mimiru came running up behind me, she was second there. (I was first) She pulled out her sword and hit me over the head with the flat part of the blade. "YOU SAID HE WAS SAFE! HE WASN'T AND I GET TO HURT YOU FOR IT!" After that, the last thing I remember is being flat on my back with a bloody nose. Virus and Zan came walking up. They stared at me then looked at Mimiru putting her sword up. She said, "I get to hurt him because Noganie wasn't safe."

I conked out and came to with ammonia right under my nose. I jumped up and my head collided with Zan's. We were dazed a bit, then she looked at the others and said, "I told you that would get him up!" She giggled and stood up. I stood also and said, "Can we go before I get beat up again?" Mimiru snuck up behind me and kicked me through the warp gate. I came through the warp gate with a sharp pain in my rear. Mimiru, Zan, and virus came behind me. Mimiru was laughing so hard she had to keep a hand on a nearby building for support, "He flew head first into the gate!" After she said that, it took about 5 minutes for her to stop laughing.

After she stopped, we started walking toward the Message Board. I saved and looked. There was a clipboard hanging by a string attached to the board. It was under a poster about the tournament Kai was talking about. I read it and noticed something else. "Hey wait, this tournament isn't for two months, Kai said it was one." I wrote my name down and Mimiru took the pen after I was done. "This whole party is signing up!" She wrote her name, then Virus' and Zan's. Zan tried to talk Mimiru out of it, but it was too late. She had already written Zan's name then looked over at me. "According to this poster, Silver Knights are going to be close by incase things get out of hand, you shouldn't go in using your real name, the knights will hop all over you." I nodded and scratched my name out and wrote "Flip" beside it. I put the pen back on the clipboard and we found a hotel to stay in over night.

I was awoken by the smell of ammonia again. I jumped up and looked around. Zan said, "What're you lookin' around for? WE have some training to do! GET UP!" She kicked me out of the bed. I landed on my back and stood up. I was still sore as I put my regular clothes back on. I walked down stairs and saw that the sun wasn't even up yet. Zan was wide-awake and pushed me out the door. She had a whistle, and she blew it right in my ear. I jumped about a foot and she said, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING? I WANT TWENTY LAPS AROUND THE SERVER! NOW MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" I leaped up and started running. I ran the 20 laps and sat down. It took an hour to run the laps. She wasn't happy that I was catching my breath.

She walked out with bags of sand. She tied one on both of my legs and my arms. She said, "You will wear these until the day of the tournament. I will add weight as you get faster. Now run 10 laps for me GO!" I ran as fast as I could. I could barely pick up my legs and move my arms. I staggered and fell a few times but kept going out of fear of her golf club. After a while, I had five more laps. She stopped me in front of the hotel. "You're taking too long, so I found some hungry wolfs to make you go faster… I'd start running now." I said, "You've got to be kidding me! I can barely move!" She just smiled and said, "Better get going unless you want to be eaten."

I started running as fast as I could and heard barking and the pounding of paws as they followed me. I ran and started to slow down. It wasn't fun at all as I ran and went slower and slower. I was on my third lap, as I saw zan laughing, I yelled, "CALL OFF THE DOGS! UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR TRAINEE TO _DIE_!" She, still giggling, pulled out a whistle and blew it. The dogs all went towards it as I covered my ears. It wasn't a whistle sound or any sound that's close to one. It was as if supersonic sound waves were churning in my head. I let out a yelp that made Zan look at me as I covered my ears. I mouthed, "Stop blowing that whistle" She stopped and looked at me weirdly. I said, "Let me see that whistle for a second" She handed it to me. "Thanks!" I took it and threw it as far as I could.

The wolfs went flying after it. Zan wasn't happy about this and I was yelled at for it. " WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR? THAT WHISTLE WAS _NOT_ CHEAP! IT COST ME 10G," I looked at her and said, "That's it?" She just went on like there was no interruption, " IT TOOK ME ALMOST THREE HOURS TO FIND THOSE WOLFS AND ABOUT TWO BITES!" She stopped yelling to catch her breath. I said calmly, "Calm down, for some reason it affects me too. Also, those whistles can drive dogs crazy." She just sighed and said, "Back to training!" She walked inside the hotel and came back with her scythe. She walked up to me with it in hand. "I want you to block every one of my hits.

"If you don't then we're going to start all over again until you can block every one of them!" I wasn't happy about this plan. She just started slashing in every direction I could think of. I blocked a lot of them, but she got me after a while. I had a now bleeding cut on my right arm. After I had bandaged that up, we went back to slashing. She wouldn't stop until midnight. As I was blocking and being cut, I thought, _this is going to be a long two months_


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter 8

**Tournament**

After two long months of training, it was time. I had started to dread today a bit because if I lost, Zan would be all over me. I had learned very neat tricks from books and people. I almost didn't make it through Zan's training. The last part, about me having to fights five on full-grown and very hungry bears almost killed me. I have a scar on my ankle from where one slashed my leg. It took about a week for that to heal. Also, she found that pack of wolfs and, even worse, one of them had a scar on its paw. It recognized me and came after me. It took about thirty minutes for us to pull that thing away from me. Mimiru was how we got it to leave me. The wolf recognized her scent too and came after her. It ended up in a cage that Virus took to the forest and released it there.

Even now, I'm surprised that I'm alive. I was scared the most when Mimiru and Zan decided to re-do my hair. They said the knights would know it was Sora and not Flip if I went in with my hair like that. So, they cut my bangs, dyed my hair brown, and gave me a skater's cut. I was still scared that they'd pull out make up, but luckily, they didn't. I whispered over to Zan while we were waiting in line to check into the tournament, "Are you sure they won't recognize me?" She frowned and said, "Sor- I mean, Flip, trust us, you don't look a thing like Sora!" I was a bit nervous about the tournament, but it didn't help that they kept calling me Sora by accident.

I walked up the table and checked in. The knights next didn't notice me nor did a Crimson Knight standing next to her. The Crimson Knight worried me a bit, because they were a lot stronger and were on a much higher rank then Silver Knights. I stood to the side of the table while I waited for Zan, Mimiru, and Virus to finish checking in. We were just about to walk off when the Knight said, "Hey…you…uh…Flip," I tensed up and turned around real slowly. He smiled and said, "Don't look so nervous, it's just a tournament. Your life doesn't depend on it." I smiled nervously and said, "Yeah…I'll…err…try." I scampered off a bit fast, my heart racing. After I was well out of earshot I said, "That was scary." Zan laughed and said, "You look like chalk! Can I write with you?" I was the only one who thought that wasn't funny. We walked around and found the food court or the "munchies place", as Zan called it.

After we finished our food, I had nachos, a voice came over the loud speaker. "The tournament will start in fifteen minutes. All participants please come to the main lobby." Therefore, we walked to the main lobby and found the listing on a big screen. I was fighting someone I didn't know. It was a guy, with short brown hair, blue eyes. He was wearing a white shirt, and blue jeans. In what seemed like no time at all, I was in the arena, facing the guy I saw on the screen. He had a heavy blade like Mimiru and Virus.

But what was weird was that he almost no upper body strength or that's what it looked like. When I saw him in the picture, I thought it was just the screen. I squeezed my fist and my two swords popped out. The announcer said from the sidelines, " I want as clean as a fight as it's going to get." I looked to see who it was and saw something that almost made me jump. It was Zack! He waved at me a little and said, "Okay, shake hands." We walked over to each other and shook hands then let go and went back to our spots. "Ready, and FIGHT!" The crowd started cheering when he said that.

I pushed the noise out of my mind, and made the first slashes. He was cut! I started to strike again when all of the sudden he started wailing as if I had just put a sword in his arm. I froze on the spot. He continued to wail, and I noticed that there were no tears. If he was crying then why weren't there any tears? I slashed again and he slid right off of the field without a word. But he must have hit the ground pretty darn hard because he was knocked out. I couldn't help but laugh as I walked off the field, the crowd cheering like mad. I walked over to the sidelines and watched Mimiru walk up on the field.

I then saw Virus walk up. They were facing off against each other! I watched and was totally amazed at their skill. It was the best fight I had ever seen. They were slashing at brake neck speed. Even when they were hit, they just kept going at it. The battle went on for about thirty minutes. I was wrapped in it the whole time. It seemed like only five minutes. It ended in a tie because they were defiantly worn out because they were moving a bit slower. Mimiru took her special finishing move and Virus did too. The attacks hit at the same time and shot them both out of the arena.

Luckily, Zan brought her ammonia. She stuck it under their nose and they jumped up yelling that their nose was on fire. It was Zan's turn now. She walked out onto the field and faced off with some guy that looked like he may kill over any second now. She swung her scythe, giggling the whole time, and sent him flying. She thought she'd killed him at first, but then he started to moving. She relaxed a bit and came back. We went back to the sidelines and watched other people fight. You could tell if the person fighting was a newbie or not. They would walk up with their knees knocking, and their weapon shaking. We laughed at them.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

**Round Two**

I was first again and this time, I was facing off with a girl. She had silver eyes, dark shoulder-length brown hair tied back at the back of her neck. She was wearing black boots with the handle of a dagger sticking out. She also had a dragon tooth necklace on silver chain. With a black tunic and black pants, it looked a bit like she was at a funeral. We met each other in the middle of the field and shook hands. She said, "Hi! I'm Ouka, nice to meet you!" I smiled and said, "Hello I'm Sor- Flip" she eyed me suspiciously and said, "Hey! I know you! Your Sora!" I whispered, "Shh! There are knights all over the place they'll get me if they find out!" She smiled and said, "Oh don't worry I won't turn you in until after the tournament, they won't take you until after the tournament anyway." I sighed then noticed the crowd getting restless.

"We'd better start before this crowd riots!" She laughed and went back to her spot. I went back and noticed that Zack had dozed off. "Hey Zack, ZACK! He jumped up and said, "Oh! Sorry, ready, set GO!" And that's exactly what we did. It was going like Mimiru and Virus's match. We were slashing like mad. I didn't even know that I could slash that fast. She nicked my shin and I whacked her nose. Her eyes were watering and I was bleeding but that didn't stop us, we kept going. I did a finishing move I picked up from Zan and caught her by surprise.

She flew out of the arena and landed with a thud. I was about to walk off when she said, "This match isn't over yet." I looked back and saw that she had never touched the ground. It was about an inch off, but she was still in. turned to Zan for help and she yelled, "Catch!" I caught whatever it was she threw and looked at it. She left a note that said, "Drink me!" There was barely a drop in there. I drank it and felt fully energized instantly. I looked at my shin and saw that it didn't even have a cut on it anymore.

She hopped back in the arena and reached in her boot. Next thing I know, I was looking at a dagger headed straight for my head. I ducked as I heard the thud of it hit the boarding of the arena. I threw a sword at her, and then realized I only had one sword now. It gave her a deep cut on the arm. Then I saw it rebounding backwards for my outstretched arm. Then, I noticed a wavemaster that was moving her staff with the sword. It cut Ouka, on its way back, and landed on my arm, and re-strapped it onto my arm. I took the moment of Ouka's shock to my advantage.

With one final kick, she was sent out of the arena. While one of the nurses healed Ouka, I walked over to the wavemaster. I felt myself turn a bit red as I walked over to her, but I didn't know why. "Thanks." She had long blond hair, green eyes, and looked about fourteen. She wore a white t-shirt and a skirt with pants under it. "No problem, but get ready because I'm going to mop the floor with you." I just stood there. "Oh, by the way I'm Flip." She shook my hand and said, "Hiya! I'm Gaidoku." She looked at me for a second at said, "Wait, your not Flip…your Sora." I was a bit shocked that she found out. "If you tell, it won't be pretty. Ouka already knows. I'm hoping I hit it out of her mind but I'm not sure if I did." She smiled and said, "It's a bit stupid of you to be here with all these knights around." I frowned and said, "As if I had a choice. Have you ever heard of a player called Kai?" Her smile faded a bit. "Yeah, his poster was next to yours." I said, " He forced me into this. He said if I don't enter. He'll hunt me down. So, here I am." She laughed. "Same here. I've been forced in, but by the knights. Cause you see, I'm a knight. I'm part of a group called the angelic knights."

I said, "And…does that mean…that I get kicked in jail as soon as you get the chance?" She smiled and said, "Basically." I frowned and walked off, but she followed me. I went to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face hoping to chase her off. When I walked out, I saw her. She laughed, "Someone give you a swirly?" I just kept walking. I finally shook her off. I went to find Zan and found her laughing at a newbie. "Zan…help." she looked up at me and said, "What?" I spoke a bit nervously. "There's a girl around here that's part of a group called the angelic knights. As soon as this tournaments over, they're going to chuck me in jail." She frowned and said, "You mean _that_ girl?" I looked over and saw her. "Yup…that's her." I started walking away when she grabbed my wrist. "Where are you going?" I tried to break away from her grip, but she didn't let go. "Fine, if you want to be disqualified, fine by me." I then noticed it was round three. "Oh sorry." I walked onto the platform. We shook hands and she pulled out her staff. "It's a bit boring here. Lets make it a bit harder."

She raised her staff and then world swirled a bit then settled. I looked around and saw that I was in a dimly lit city. I looked around then looked up with just enough time to get out of Gaidoku's slash. I slashed back. She hopped on top of a building. There must've been less gravity because I jumped and landed on top with ease. We continued slashing and jumping from building to building. I finally got her in a leg sweep and pinned her to the ground. "Got cha'" She obviously didn't like the singsong voice I added. She kicked me in my stomach. I, having the wind knocked out of me, jumped back holding my stomach. She grabbed the collar of my shirt and sent me flying. It didn't feel very nice.

She came hopping over toward me, ready to hurt me some more. I staggered up and went running past her. She looked behind her and I waved her staff at her. She came running after it, but I had already taken us back to the stadium. With a well-placed kick, she tripped and fell. I used her staff to send her off the stadium. When I turned to walk off, she was standing right there in front of me. I turned around and there she was in front and behind me. Gaidoku was to the left and right too. "Like it? It's a new technique. I just learned it." I kicked all of them and my foot went right through them. Then I was flattened against the ground as she came from the sky. She slapped some handcuffs on me and laughed. "I get my 5000 G reward!" The second she said that, something went off inside of me. I took one sword and cut the chain, then kicked her off.

I started slashing at her and cut her quite a few times. She was moving all around the arena, but somehow I was able to keep up with ease. I continued to slash until I was worn out. Finally, my swords started to glow. I didn't know how I did it, but two yellow beams came out of the end of my swords. I felt the energy drain from me instantly. She fell out of the arena, and I blacked out.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter 10**

**Round Three**

I came to and was in a bit of a daze. I looked around and saw Zan. She noticed I was awake, so she stuck ammonia under my nose. I jumped up. "ZAN! Why the heck did you do that?" She giggled and said, "To get you to wake up faster. We thought you were dead. Oh, by the way, you're up, but Mimiru and Virus won't let you fight." I leaped out of bed, grabbed and put on my swords, then ran out. "Bye bye, Good luck Sora…no wait...Flip!" I ran past Mimiru and Virus. They made a grab for me, but I was already on the field ready to fight. Zack looked surprised that I was still alive. "Hey Flip! Glad to see you're not dead!" I just said, "Get on with it." Another guy was up this time. He had spiked blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a red jersey with the number 15 on it. He had on blue jean shorts, and a two handed sword.

He walked up to me and shook my hand. "Hello, I'm Cody." I replied rather board, "Hiya, I'm Flip." We took our spots as he pulled out his sword. Compared to my short swords, that was one long blade. He was in a position that seemed to say, "BEAN ME!" I laughed at this thought and started slashing. I stopped for a second to catch my breath and he down slashed. But I loved it when people down slash, because I know the perfect block. I pulled my swords above my head in an X shape, and caught his sword. I used my swords to hold on to him and I beaned him right across the head. In a daze he staggered and our heads clashed. We both staggered around the arena a little, then came to.

We continued to slash. With one strong, final swing, I was sent flying into the wall. I almost blacked out, but then felt myself moving. I looked up to find myself floating in mid-air. I looked around to find Gaidoku using her staff to move me back onto the arena. I don't really know why she kept helping me, but I didn't complain. I landed on the arena and propelled by the force of jumping of air, I rammed Cody with my elbow. He was sent out of the arena. The whole crowd, yet again, went wild. I walked over to the sidelines and found Zan.

"Hey Zan, could you do me a favor?"

She nodded. "As long as we don't get in trouble."

"Don't worry we won't. Can you wake me up when it's my match? I'm tired."

She giggled. "Sure."

I walked out of the stadium and found a nice bed in the Nurses room. I lie down and fell to sleep.

I woke up to the smell of ammonia. It wasn't fun. I leaped out of bed, yet again, yelling that my nose was on fire. Zan had put a little too much on her cotton ball and my eyes were watering like mad. Zan thought this was hilarious, but cause she almost sent the whole bottle of ammonia at me. She finally told me that it was her match, and she was up against a girl named Night Dark or ND for short. "Do you know anything about her?" I thought back to all the training I went through, who I saw and heard about. "Hmmm…does she have a shirt with gold lining on the sleeves and a golden eagle printed on the back?" She nodded. "A skirt with gold lining at the bottom?

She nodded again. "Yeah I've heard of her. She supposed to be strong. Watch out for her down slash. He finishing move is where she leg sweeps you, then kicks you out of the arena, so watch out for that. She's light and speedy, and uses that to her advantage. You can protect yourself from that by holding your ground with a bit of brute force." She smiled nervously and said, "I think I'm going to barf. Pre-match nerves. Right now, it's intermission. So I get to linger for a bit." I reached in my pocket and found something that should help. "Here, take this." I handed her a feather. She looked at me as though I was crazy. "You've got to be kidding." I laughed. "No, I'm not. It's red for a reason. Remember when you set that phoenix on me?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but I don't get it. What's so important about the feather?" I continued. "I heard from some stander-bys that phoenix feathers had special powers. So you know I had to pluck one. That's why it suddenly started shooting fire at me." I laughed at the thought. "Ever since I plucked that feather, I've been able to run, jump, and move faster. It lightens your body so you can do stuff that you normally couldn't. That's how I won my last few matches. I searched the rules and it didn't say a thing against phoenix feathers." She gawked at me. "Moron! You almost got me roasted! Thanks anyway though. "Oh! By the way, when it's my match I'm going to need it back. Unless…How much time is left in intermission?" She checked her watch. "About forty-five minutes." I smiled. "Just enough time." I grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the arena and the whole tournament.


End file.
